Guardian article

[Richard51]

[quote user="NickP"]

I get the feeling from your attitude that you have issues with your French experience, maybe things didn't work out as you hoped they would? If so thats a shame for you, but there are lots of British people who do spend a lot of time in France, who don't mind or are not worried about French prices and feel that the few extra quid spent on shopping is money well spent for the enjoyment they get from this country. [:)]

[/quote]

First of all it's Mrs R51.  Mr R51 would have no idea of the price of the grocery shopping basket [;-)]...but the cost of DIY products / spare parts / electrical goods etc has turned him a whiter shade of pale.

I just think that France is not the nirvana that some paint it to be and, conversely, the UK isn't anywhere as bad as it is portrayed.  The price of the weekly grocery basket is one where the UK wins hands down.  I don't have 'issues with my French experience' - I just feel that there are too many other places to visit to want to spend all my holidays in France...particularly at the moment when everything is so, comparatively, expensive. 

[Aly]

I don't think its about ' not minding ' high prices. Most French are also complaining about the cost of living. I agree weekly shopping is a non starter but like many others

I buy many things in the UK and get them posted. Things like electrical goods, DVD's, CD's etc.

What I don't understand is why prices are so high here? We have friends who live in Alsace and they along with many of there neighbours cross into Germany to do all the shopping. They save 30% on prices for the same goods.

I try to avoid French supermarkets - as I find the quality is poor particularly with Fruit and veg!

I agree there are many things, the unexpected that are cheaper here - but its the day to day stuff  - food and household goods that affects us and not things like low cost canal boat passes.

[JandM]

This has turned into an interesting discussion.  France is undoubtedly more expensive than the UK when it comes to consumer goods and, in my experience, food costs are generally higher as well - although I'm amazed to read that some think supermarket food (fresh fruit and veg!!??) quality is lower than in Britain.  Local tax is another one - I pay roughly the same local tax on my two bedroom rural French house (with barely any local services) as I do on my three bedroom house in South East London. Can someone explain that?

The price of property is the big exception. To widen the issue, in the UK you have to be quite wealthy to live the kind of rural life that many of us want, but in France an attractive country home in civilised and beautiful surroundings is available to the likes of me - someone on a pretty ordinary income. It's the relatively uncommercialised nature and simplicity of living in rural France that I love. If you're addicted to shopping as a way of life and accumulating stuff is a matter of status, then it must be quite difficult unless you're pretty well heeled.

 

 

 

[Aly]

My comments about the fruit and veg are my own experience - perhaps your supermarket is great.  Most people we know only buy fruit and veg in the markets or in smaller shops.

Maybe its this that impacts on our supermarkets produce.

I agree abt house prices -  But no one is saying France is awful or we don't want to live here. We are simply questioning and debating a huge shift in the cost of living.

Its not about an addiction to shopping! How ridiculous!! Food, paint, household goods  do not equate to status. For many its about struggling to survive.

[JandM]

I didn't mean to suggest that you, Aly, are a shopaholic or that household stuff is not important. And I agree that supermarket food isn't as good as in the markets. But the fresh food in French supermarkets is infinitely better than what you find in Tesco or Sainsbury's. British supermarkets tend to sell what looks good rather than what tastes good. I think that's much less common in the French equivalents.

[Aly]

 Jan I cannot give definitive statements  'But the fresh food in French supermarkets is infinitely better than what

you find in Tesco or Sainsbury's'. . I can only give my opinion.

[Richard51]

The beef in France is definitely inferior to British beef.  The French are quite happy to sell meat from cows that would be considered too old for beef slaughter in the UK, likewise beef is also sold from former dairy cows (so no doubt full the antibiotics, hormones and other stuff that French farmers inject their dairy cows with).  It is also hung for very short periods of time compared with beef slaughtered in the British Isles.  If we buy beef in France (which admittedly is not very often due to the price!) I would only ever cook it very slowly (in the crock pot or pot roast style)...other wise you'll still be chewing it at bed time!

I also find the vegetable quality (in supermarkets) to be not that great - but then most French we know either grow their own veg or buy from the local market / trade with neighbours.

Mrs R51

[just john]

[quote user="Aly"]My comments about the fruit and veg are my own experience - perhaps your supermarket is great.  Most people we know only buy fruit and veg in the markets or in smaller shops.
Maybe its this that impacts on our supermarkets produce. [/quote]

Well I expected that the markets would be full of wondrous fresh produce but was dismayed after 6 years of visiting 4 substantial local ones find stalls just as expensive if not more so than the supermarket and full of produce in boxes marked 'produce of spain' etc, even the village spa and little epicerie gets a grand camion blanc every other day from a wholesaler. I thought I'd found a treasure in a little old lady selling veg, eggs and dressed chicken from the back of her Renault 4L until she told me the price! 'Fraid to say Super U and Lidl gets the bulk of it and the market is just for random impulse inspiration, (expensive and not that good, have you seen the gypsy cheese stall prices!)

[EmilyA]

We can get (from time to time) excellent Irish beef from Carrefour Market. We stock up on this and New Zealand lamb when we see it, because although we try on principle not to use too many food miles, a superior taste (in our opinion!) for half the price is too good to miss. Generally we buy fruit and veg in the market and grow as much as possible ourselves. We also try to buy things like Lidl's organic apples to encourage the local bio market as much as possible. I think it is important to keep a sense of proportion here. If buying everything from Tesco on line goes with refusing to learn French and not mixing with French people, then that seems pretty silly to me, but I can't see how anybody's integration into French society is threatened just by buying nappies at half the price from the UK.

[Aly]

Here is an interesting article abt French consumers views

http://www.connexionfrance.com/news_articles.php?id=1348

[Gardengirl]

We spend half of each year in France. In UK I shop at Waitrose, plus M & S and Sainsburys. In France I shop once a week at Carrefour, for olive oil, Smoothies, some drinks etc but buy most things at our local fruit and veg shop and twice weekly market, where the quality is very good, plus local wine. The quality of fruit and veg in Carrefour and Intermarché is poor, and I wouldn't buy any there. I've always grown a lot of my own vegs in UK, although much less now; still grow salads, tomatoes, courgettes etc, and have salads and tomatoes on our balcony in France -they're a little behind this year. The market has just finished overflowing with asparagus, and cherries and apricots are everywhere now.

We have at least 15 bakers within a 5 minute walk, and a baguette costs 90 cents all year round, although we generally buy wholemeal bread; in UK I used to bake my own. We don't eat a lot of meat in either country, but we do eat a lot of fish, both of which are quite expensive here; we find the quality of both meat and fish excellent where we are. We've been semi-veggie for many years, so eat a lot of fruit and veg, veggie stews, bean meals etc.

We do bring things from UK when we drive down, and keep a running list for the next visit. We aren't into Marmite etc mode, but I do bring large supplies of things like my favourite shampoo, and Ecover products, which are horrendously expensive here - and usually stock up on Waitrose 3 for 2 offers for them. I also admit to needing supplies of Cadbury's fruit and nut, but don't really long for anything else, apart from the occasional tin of Heinz baked beans in winter.

[Aly]

This months connexion paper compared 101 products, from Carrefour and Asda. They took account of range, quantity and own brands to make the comparison fair. Of the 101 products which included meat, fish veg, dairy drinks and toiletries 74 were cheaper in the UK and 52 were even cheaper even after 25% delivery fee was added. they concluded that on a 700 Euro food bill a saving of 100 Euro could be achieved.

[Patf]

I saw that article, Aly, and could hardly believe it. Not  that I've ever shopped at Asda, but I did food shopping recently at Sainsbury's and prices weren't as cheap as quoted.

Another point is that Carrefour prices vary from store to store. For example the Carrefour at Mirande has lower prices (but less choice) than that at Auch, which is a much bigger store.

And some SuperU prices are higher than Carrefour's, which surprised me as I used to think of SuperU as cheap and cheerful.

[Will]

The real comparison comes when you look at shops like Aldi which are present in both countries. I've never done a proper breakdown, but most individual items (with the exception of drink) cost far less on the English side of the Channel.

I think the big savings from shops like Sainsbury's and Tesco come from the special offers, like the BOGOFs and the meal-for-a-fiver type deals, which you seldom find in French stores. There's a temptation to buy more of course, but the weekly shop still seems to cost less in England.

[Chancer]

I agree with you Will.

I now have an Aldi and a Lidl near my UK dwelling and have had both on my doorstep here in France from day 1 so I know the prices very well.

Everything that is comparable (they dont sell pork pies in France etc) is cheaper in the UK except the drink, the 6 * 50cl Lidl lagers that are either €2.99 or €3.29 sell for £4.99 in the UK.

I have just spent 2 weeks in the UK and whilst the food is much cheaper it does cost a lot to eat properly rather than industrial foods, an example Asda were selling a takeaway curry bag for two for £3, this actually does 3 meals for me but the inevitable result is that I once gain gained a couple of kilos despite having taken a lot of proper food with me from France to minimise the effect.

The only foodstuffs that I brought back with me this time were mueslis, curry spices bought in bulk form an asian shop and vacuum packed naan breads and popadums from Asda.